seriously romantic: the girl with the make-believe husband by julia quinn

i pretty much buy anything julia quinn publishes. this doesn't mean i love everything she publishes. i didn't love miranda cheever. and i know everyone loves romancing mr. bridgerton best, but it is not my favorite. my favorite is when he was wicked. and i also love the bevelstoke books that are not miranda cheever, i actually kind of hope there is at least one more of them. olivia's twin brother is deserving of his own story i think.

anyway, i really enjoyed because of miss bridgerton, the first book in the rokesby series. and i have been waiting with bated breath for the girl with the make-believe husband to print. because the few glimpses i'd had were enough to confirm to me that i was going to love it. when i checked my email this morning and saw the notice that it had been delivered to my kindle app, i was thrilled. i knew what i was going to spend the day doing, even though i had a ton of other more pressing things to read.

and i was not disappointed. this novel has quinn's trademark wit and humor. she has always managed to tackle difficult things with a light touch. here war and death play into the story, and she doesn't shy away from the hard truths, but she also doesn't let them overwhelm the story. because this is a romance. it's about a girl who is alone and searching for her brother, but finds his best friend. and he is injured and he needs her. maybe she needs him too. but she lies and says he's her husband in order to help him. and maybe later that helps her. but that one little lie, one she had every intention of correcting as soon as possible gets away from her. and when her purported husband awakens with amnesia of all things, she doesn't quite know how to tell the truth. or she does but she doesn't think she can. and then everything keeps getting more complicated. because the truth is, she's been in love with her brother's best friend for a long time. they'd been corresponding for a long time. through her brother at first. and then with little extra notes at the end of those missives. and when he seems to know her she is charmed and doesn't feel so damnably lonely. so she lets the lie live. and he doesn't seem to mind. he doesn't mind, actually. he was glad she was there when he woke up. and he doesn't remember their marriage, but he remembers her. he knows he was half in love with her. so he's happy to be bound to her. he wants to be bound to her.

and maybe when the truth is finally revealed, it will turn out okay, because the truth is that they love each other. everything else is just extra complication. they love each other and are suited to each other and they make sense together. and when you find the thing that lets your life make sense and not be lonely, then maybe you hold on to that no matter the circumstances.